Services such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Shopify and email marketing platforms ask you to add DNS records.
THE PRINCIPLE
Add the records exactly as the provider specifies, in whichever DNS system your nameservers point at.
COMMON REQUESTS
An A record or CNAME pointing a domain or subdomain at their infrastructure MX records to route email to them TXT records for verification, SPF or DKIM
THE ONE PEOPLE GET WRONG
Moving email to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 requires two changes, and only the first is obvious:
- Replace the MX records with theirs.
- Set email routing to Remote Mail Exchanger, in cPanel > Email Routing. If this is left local, our server keeps delivering mail into a local mailbox and messages vanish into an inbox nobody checks.
Also update SPF to authorise the new provider, and remove ours.
PRACTICAL ADVICE
Copy values exactly, including trailing dots where the provider includes them. Do not delete existing records unless the provider says to. Allow time for propagation before concluding it has not worked. If the instructions do not match what you see, open a ticket with the provider's instructions attached.
